Consumers: Dude, where's my Wii?
by David Hinkle 
{ Nov 21st 2007 at 10:48PM }
Well then, who saw this coming? Certainly not us. With a console being scarce and incredibly popular for a whole year now, we never would've figured that consumers would be angry they could not find one. The nerve!But, in all seriousness, we feel your pain. It's been tough trying to get a console ever since it released and when stores like, oh we dunno, EB Games tell you that they're getting stock in on a certain day and you show up that day to try and get one and they say "Sorry, we don't have any,"we'd be pretty ticked off too.
And Robert Whitted is the latest casualty, stating "They [EB Games] said they should be getting in a shipment this week, went by there on Tuesday of this week when the shipment was supposed to arrive and they're telling me now what they don't have any in stock." Thing is, they did get the console in, but they're not selling them until Black Friday. "They're telling me that the message from the store should be that they're not selling them until Friday."
Robert feels cheated, going on to say "They're telling me a lie, they're telling the community a lie, that they do not have them in stock and we all know that they will no be getting them in Thanksgiving Day or the morning before they open."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Matt W @ Nov 21st 2007 11:20PM
Get used to it. Stores lie to consumers ALL the time.
ELIJAH the KING CHAOSDRAGON @ Nov 21st 2007 11:22PM
Happy turkey day dsfanboy. Its messed up they are doing this to people who want a wii.
Jon Anderson @ Nov 21st 2007 11:30PM
Best Buy got in the Wii systems tuesday morning. I was there waiting for Rock Band and they got about 15 Wiis. I absolutely had to get one...so I bought it for my grandma haha.
Fulluphigh @ Nov 24th 2007 9:11PM
I just started at best buy, and I've been in the back as much as on the floor, getting ready for Friday. And I can tell you, if a customer request something and we have it in stock, but in the back for black friday or something, we get it for them. We make either the same, or often times more. Most DVD's and stuff get marked down a whole lot for Friday morning, to draw people in.
So, while we waited until 9:30 tonight to put Rock Band on the floor, I've sold it to anyone who's asked.
Fullmetal Salchemist @ Nov 21st 2007 11:50PM
A picture of The Todd from Scrubs would have fit much better.
Dani @ Nov 22nd 2007 9:52AM
LOL
Deffo to The Todd idea
same thing has happened this side of the pond. I was tolf last week that they would have some Wii's instock on monday.... they never appeared. Infact, i was told that they would be in stock NEXT monday. why dont i believe them?
ELIJAH the KING CHAOSDRAGON @ Nov 22nd 2007 12:24AM
I meant wiifanboy also.
Garst @ Nov 22nd 2007 2:34AM
It's better that people lie. Have you ever dealt with a customer that wants a product that is no longer carried? A *woman* asked me where an analog TV was back in July, and would not leave until she got one. She wouldn't except the fact that stores have been banned from selling them. Dealing with customers can be just as difficult even if the particular product actually is out-of-stock. Besides, isn't an item considered out-of-stock until it is available for sale, especially from an accounting stand point?
saylorsgang @ Nov 22nd 2007 9:06AM
I avoid going to EB/Gamestop at all costs, I pre-ordered my Wii Zapper w/Link and when I got there, they were out ( only got 4) and was told the employee was wrong in letting me pre-order it,now I can't find one anywhere, so I picked up Elebits instead, which turned my frown upside down!
Dale @ Nov 22nd 2007 10:07AM
I already sent this in as a tip to Joystiq, but TJ Maxx of all places is selling a $400 bundle - the Wii, a memory card, a component cable, a disc case, a horrible steering wheel add on, the tennis racket/golf club/baseball bat add ons and a couple of other bits. They had seven or eight just sitting behind the counter when I went in last night.
Drew @ Nov 22nd 2007 11:42AM
Yeah, my buddy and his family decided they wanted to get a Wii. Unfortunately, they probably don't listen to the news or anything, they went store to store expecting to just get a Wii and walk right out. He went to like 3 different stores, and to his surprise he couldn't find anything.
So of course, he texts me, complaining that he went to so many stores and couldn't find one. I told him "That's why you call beforehand." Haha
But yeah, I camped out for mine. It was so much fun.
Tristan @ Nov 22nd 2007 1:14PM
Hopefully he was lucky and was able to score the 79$ one on Amazon today :( Since Amazon has 1000!
The Man Under The Bed @ Nov 23rd 2007 8:54AM
i think i can try and clear this up....i work at eb games part-time and ive had to tell countless people that we dont have any and we werent expecting any until friday...thats true we're keeping them in the back until black friday, but not because we're money hungry whores...but because we're forced to...corporate makes the ads then sends us emails about it...we got the emails tueday saying we have to have 30 wiis in the store come friday...if we would have sold any wiis before today we could have gotten hit with a big lawsuit due to false advertisement,because the ad says we are supposed to have 30 wiis so by law we are supposed to have that many.. I know that no one is gonna read this but i just thought i should put my 2 cents in about the situation.
jojopet @ Nov 24th 2007 12:22PM
I am probably the most honest salesperson alive. When my employer told me to tell people that we had no Wiis, when we had 30, it made me upset. I didn't understand why I had to lie to customers and it went against my morals, but I didn't want to lose my job or get written up over it. So I kept my mouth shut.
Moving on to Thursday night, I arrive at Toys R Us to Camp out for the line (A 30GB Zune for $79.99). There were 2 people ahead of me. By 1 O'Clock there were 11 people in line, that's how many Zunes were actually there. Anyway, imagine my shock when I found out that they didn't have ANY Wiis, not a one!!! This, was the same Toys R Us that had 90 Wiis last Sunday morning. I was kind of ticked off, because I disallowed to buy one from my store. Right then, I understood why my employer was holding Wiis for this, the busiest day of the year. These people are lining up early in the Wii hours of the morning to get things for their children. They're not the casual, well my kid wants a Wii, checking in at our store and this store and that. These are people that are hardcore enough to get up at the crack of down on their day off to get great deals so that they can appease the wants of their children and their friends to spread good will. I bought some stuff for the kids of a family friend that just passed away. I got in and out in 5 minutes. When I came out there was a line wrapped all the way around the inside of the building.
Then I swung by my place of work that hadn't opened yet, it was still 5:30. I talked to my friend who was at the head of the line, 17 out of 18 people were waiting to get a Wii. I bought my friend some hot chocolate. He told me he had brought some trade-ins, I laughed and said that sucks for the opener. Black Friday and the first person in line has trade-ins, LOL. Anyways, I look at these people and I realize why we held them, these people are OUR customers, the ones that shop at my place of employ, I won't mention the name, but you only have one of two place to choose from. These people are harcore, and they deserve their Wii. If you can brave the cold at 3 in the morning, to get something, you deserve to spend your cold hard cash on it.
I apologzine on behalf of me and my company for bending the truth guys. Hope you have a happy holidays!!!